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4 Easy Steps to Improve Your Payment Experience

Category: Growth Hacks

4 Easy Steps to Improve Your Payment Experience
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

4 Easy Steps to Improve Your Payment Experience

Your payment process may seem technical, almost insignificant. But with over ¾ of shoppers choosing to abandon their cart, your payment gateway is worth considering.

To help you boost your sales, we have found four possible solutions – simplify, clear instructions, broadening your means of payment, and ensuring safety.

Simplify

Critical to the success of purchase completion, your process must be simple and easy to use. Don’t clutter your portal attempting to sell the user a few more items. Make sure the user can review their cart, click back to the main page if necessary, and place emphasis on buttons or links that move the purchase along.

It can be helpful to work with a UX designer or commit to user testing to see where your design might be confusing your customers.

Clear Instructions

Similar to the point of simplification, you need to make sure that all instructions are clear and to the point. Use conversational language, and on each screen, only include information that is crucial to that step in the process.

If possible, include accessible options, such as audio instructions. And if your site is serving a multilingual audience, it may be prudent to invest in translation.  Over 70% of consumers are willing to buy products with information in their native language. If your userbase largely speaks Spanish, but your payment process is in English, it may discourage them from finishing the task.

Payment and Receipts

In order to make the payment process as painless as possible, it’s best to include various forms of payment options. This includes not only accepting credit and debit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, but also accepting digital payment methods like PayTabs.

You should also make coupon options clear-cut, with the customer either selecting the coupon, or inserting the code. In countries like India, many consumers still prefer cash on delivery payment methods, so excluding this may prompt users to abandon their purchase.

Furthermore, it is important to send out a receipt after payments are completed so that the consumer builds confidence in your system. Whether a physical product will be shipped or not, it is vital to send the consumer an email receipt.

Ensure Safety

Lastly, safety is of the upmost importance. While the data provided for the user is important for completing a purchase, that same information could destroy their lives if in the wrong hands. And this doesn’t just provide security for the consumer – it helps you as well. After all, you don’t want to be entangled in a case of payment fraud.

In order to ensure your payment portals are secure, make sure to follow SSL protocols. Users will recognize if you have this functionality immediately, as a lock icon will appear in the URL bar. This is a cost-effective way to improve your security and build consumer trust.

In addition to becoming PCI compliant, make sure never to store payment information on your servers, especially credit or debit card information. Consider using tokenization to randomize the secure data sent to your servers. This will boost your security considerably and minimize payment fraud.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, your consumers will benefit from a simplified design and easy-to-read instructions. Furthermore, accepting various payment methods will make the process easier in case of card failure or other technical mishaps, and keeping your site secure will protect both you and the consumer.

A properly maintained and designed payment gateway helps to build trust with the consumer, so that they will not only buy from you again, but they will also enjoy the experience.

6 years ago
Are You Spending Too Much on Shipping?
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Are You Spending Too Much on Shipping?

One of the easiest ways to provide excellent customer experience in your online business is by providing convenient, excellent and affordable shipping. However, this comes at a cost, and in a business environment where all expenses seem to be rising, you need to have a look at your shipping costs once again. You have to maintain a balance by offering the best customer experience while at the same time cutting costs on shipping logistics.  According to a recent survey carried out by Jupiter Media Matrix Inc and published by Forbes, 63% of customers abandoned a purchase due to excessive shipping costs.  With such insight, the free shipping threshold set by giant retailers such as Amazon becomes all the more significant.

So, are you spending too much on shipping? Is there anything you can do about it? This article gives insights on how to optimize your shipping strategy without compromising on the customer experience.

How to Start Reducing High Cost of Shipping

Most experts put freight spend at 9-11% of sales. According to a Canadian Shipper Report, transportation spend is about 10-11% for businesses with less than $250 million in sales. For those with revenues more than $9 billion, freight costs range between 2-3%.  Some of the ways to deal with high shipping costs include:

  1. Identifying Overspending in Shipping

Common pitfalls leading to high costs of shipping include:

  • Using flat rate boxes to ship everything: “If it fits in the box, it ships at the same price every time,” and this is a great thing for you up to a point. Other alternatives can save you money depending on the item you wish to ship including Regional Rate Boxes and Priority Mail.
  • Relying on SmartPost and SurePost alone: These two options are great but they still depend on the United States Postal Service at the last mile to deliver a package to the customer’s doorstep. A cheaper option would be to use the United States Postal Service all the way as they now match the rates offered by SmartPost and SurePost and other shipping services.
  • Failure to account for dimensional weight: If you haven’t started factoring in a dimensional weight (DIM weight) introduced by FedEx and UPS in 2015, you might be paying more for your shipping. Today, shippers use DIM weight calculation and an actual weight calculation for every package, and you pay the higher rate. You have to start considering overall package size and weight more keenly to pay a lower rate when shipping.
  • Failure to use other packaging options: Don’t use boxes for everything and instead consider Poly mailers for items which are not fragile. It cuts down the cost of shipping.

 

  1. Optimize Your Free/Affordable Shipping Strategy

To offer free shipping without breaking the bank, consider the following options:

  • Free Shipping for Domestic Orders only
  • Free Shipping for orders over a certain order amount
  • Free shipping for return customers
  • Free Shipping for a minimum number of items purchased
  • Adjust the price of product downwards to reduce “stated” shipping costs

 

  1. Find Ways to Reduce Costs of Shipping

Consider the following strategies:

  • Buying packaging from discount suppliers
  • Negotiating bulk discounts
  • Reusing and recycle
  • Using shipping rate calculators to find the best rates
  • Batch-process as much as you can for higher efficiency and reduced costs
  • Use hybrid services for bigger shipping discounts. Delivery takes longer but you save money in the process.
  • Use a third party logistics company/international warehouse

It is also important to audit all invoices for errors, consolidate shipments and seek referrals from other businesses to find the best shipping rates. If you feel your shipping spend is too high, these strategies will help reduce costs and keep your business going.

By combining an affordable shipping experience with seamless payment processing using the best payment gateway, your business stands a better chance in the competitive e-commerce landscape. It is a high time you choose the best payment gateway and be able to streamline your shipping process.

6 years ago
4 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud at Your Business
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

4 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud at Your Business

It is true that online businesses have made life easy for most people all over the world, as long as they have a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Shopping for clothes, grocery, jewelry and even insurance has become a piece of cake! You can buy things to your heart’s content from the comfort of your home or your office or you can place an order even on the go. Digitization has also helped online merchants to connect with more customers than ever, and they now have a chance to expand their businesses and earn more in an easier manner.

The biggest concern for e-stores

But like everything in life, e-stores have a major weakness. And that is, they are highly susceptible to credit card frauds. Besides hacking and phishing, account takeover and identity thefts are other frauds you might face from time to time, as an online merchant. Fraudsters might steal personal and financial information of customers, or steal usernames and passwords to make unauthorized purchases. Frauds are especially harmful for small businesses and hence it is essential that you follow these tips to prevent them:

  • PCI compliant payment gateway – To protect customer data against online frauds, the PCI SSC or Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has come up with a set of best practices. And this is mandatory for online businesses to follow. So, it makes sense to use a payment gateway like PayTabs that is PCI compliant and has a double-layered fraud prevention system.

 

  • Keep an eye on transactions – As a merchant, you surely have an idea about the buying patterns of different customers. You know those who buy expensive products or buy in bulk. So, monitor transactions and your accounts daily to watch out for suspicious shipping information or inconsistent billing addresses. Tools for tracking IP addresses can also help, as they will alert you in case any address is originating from a fraud-prone area or country. Also note that frauds generate more from free email addresses than paid ones.

 

  • Use AVS and ask for CVV – AVS or Address Verification System is used by many online merchants to compare the customer address on a credit card company’s file with the numerical part of the address on the actual credit card. Use a payment gateway that does this checking automatically for you. The CVV on the other hand is the 3 or 4 digit security code that you will find on the back of credit cards. Now, if you are wondering why asking for the CVV is effective every time, it is because as per PCI rules, CVV cannot be stored with card owner name or credit card number. So, unless a fraudster steals a credit card, they cannot get hold of the CVV. Payment processors like PayTabs always include a tool that asks the shopper for the CVV number while checking out.
  • Use only the latest software and platforms – Providers of operating systems constantly update the software with security measures that prevent attacks from malware, viruses and frauds. So make sure you run only the latest operating system. Also install and update anti-spyware and anti-malware software from time to time, to prevent fraud attacks. These security software products should be business grade and not free ones with limited features.

Besides the above measures, try setting limits in terms of dollar value or the number of purchases you will accept from the same account per day. This can minimize your losses in case of fraud. Also, make sure your customers provide a strong alphanumeric password which is at least 8-charcater long and contains a special character or a capital to be extra safe. Inform your customers that long and complex passwords are necessary to prevent hacking. Otherwise, hackers can run programs that will run through all possible permutations of a password and crack it.

A little discretion and care can help you keep your online business safe from frauds. This will not only prevent monetary losses but also protect your reputation in the industry.

6 years ago
Top 7 Most Common Merchant Account Complaints that Can be a Red Flag
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Top 7 Most Common Merchant Account Complaints that Can be a Red Flag

While choosing credit card processors, it is important to determine the value you are going to drive from them. Simply considering the lowest price quote may not lead to good value for your money. Rather a lower price quote can be a big trap. The overall experience and value offered by your payment processor is something that counts in the long run. So before you take any decision, properly assess the potential risk and rewards associated with your decision. In order to assess the risks associated with a processor, the best way is to browse through the online complaints against the processor posted by the merchants.

Yes, when you analyze those complaints, you will find that some of them are regular complaints, whereas some might be genuine red flags. Here, you should focus your attention on the red flags because these are the things that will help us take an informed decision.

1. Complicated contract cancellation

Many processors charge an early contract termination fee, but it happens when they charge an annual fee. If the processor doesn’t charge an early cancellation fee, they might be charging on month to month, which is far better than the annual contracts, if you are using their services for the first time. Charging an early termination fee is actually an unfair business policy. They make their cancellation process so complicated that when you decide to cancel, they keep you bouncing from department to department till you finally give up. It is also important for the merchants to get the contract cancelled in writing, because sometimes the processor will continue to charge you despite your verbal agreement to cancel the services.

2. Volume and nature of complaints

The ratio of number of complaints to the processing volume also does matter. While scanning through complaints, it’s important to remember that payment processors with 1000 clients and 100 complaints cannot be compared with a payment processor with 10000 clients and one hundred complaints. Also have a look at the common complaints. If you happen to see a number of complaints around a common issue, it can be a red flag.

3. Misleading advertising and unethical sales practices

These are some of the most common complaints made by the merchants all over the world. The underlying reason for these practices is the excessive focus of payment processors on sales. They have tiered pricing systems and the advertised rates are often not the effective rates, because many merchants are disqualified for the advertised rates. These are some of the most deceptive techniques used by the salesy payment processors. It is advisable to go through the fine print and not rely on what their sales representatives claim or say, because these guys are under extreme sales pressure and they often provide false facts to the customer. The same is true about independent retailers. Beware of their deceptive sales techniques.

4.Unresponsive customer support

Sometimes the independent agents promise a lot while closing a sale, but once they close it, the focus shifts to the next sale. They ignore their existing customers, so the customer support takes a backseat and the merchants are thrown from department to department for minor issues. It leads to huge frustration. So never go for the lowest price quote; take the feedback from your friends and colleagues and also browse through the reviews online, so as to make sure that the payment processor you are dealing with offers handy customer service in time of need.

5. Non-cancellable lease agreements

Leasing POS terminals or payment gateways can actually turn out to be far more expensive than buying them. Certain processors force you to make the payment for the entire lease term and therefore they make the contract non-cancellable. Ultimately, their actual cost turns out to be many times more than the actual buying cost of the gateway or processor.

6. Unfair charges and high fees

Most of the complaints revolve around unfair fees and charges. Some payment processors charge their merchants on the pretext of early termination or PCI compliance. For example, the standard fee for early termination is around $400, but you will find several merchants complaining online that they have paid much more in the name of early termination.

7. Keeping the charges hidden
One of the most deceptive techniques used by these payment processors is that they keep many of the charges and fee structure hidden and undisclosed. These charges come as a surprise to the merchant.

If you research a bit, you will find that many payment gateway providers are happy to offer you no PCI and no early termination fees. There is no point paying this fee, which can turn out to be too high if calculated as a fixed percentage of the actual contract.

Final Thoughts
The payment gateway provider is also a business owner with possibly a lot of issues, sales pressure and unethical practices by their staffers; so discuss everything during the negotiation and see the fine print. If you are not happy and satisfied, decide not to sign the contract.

6 years ago
Worried About Cyber Security?
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Worried About Cyber Security?

A small business owner comes to his office at 9 o’clock as usual and starts his day by checking his emails. He also checks his bank account online in order to upload the payroll sheet and release the salary of his employees, but he is shocked to see that there is no money in his account. Worried, he calls up his bank and enquires about his account status.

The bank customer service tells him that the previous day, there was a transaction made from an unknown location and the funds have already been diverted to another account. In 2012 alone, some 6.5 million LinkedIn accounts and 1.5 million eHarmony accounts had been hacked.

It is not uncommon, so even if you own a small business, you are not immune to these predators and hackers. There are many inexpensive software programs that can be used to hack your account or website. All you need to do to crack a password is to buy a $300 graphic card and you will be able to run 420 billion simple lowercase password combinations every minute.

The big companies have the budget and resources to protect themselves from cyber attacks. According to the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) more than 50% of small business owners complained that they were subjected to a cyber attack in 2013 in the US.

In this article, we will suggest some of the most trusted methods to prevent cyber attacks.

  1. Stay alert

The first measure you can take against cyber criminals is to stay alert, because they know that the small businesses are vulnerable in terms of security. You can be a soft target because these criminals know that if you have regular cash flow, then you are also likely to have money available in your account.

  1. Use messaging apps with encrypted data transfer feature

Messaging apps are quite common and people randomly download it from Google Play and some other resources and start interacting with their colleagues and friends.

People also send files and other important data through these apps. In order to minimize the probability of data leaks, use secure messaging apps only.

  1. Be smart with your passwords

Many people do not change their passwords because of laziness and convenience, but it can be disastrous. From your email account to software and bank account, you should choose hack proof passwords and change them frequently. It is found that more than 55% people keep the same password for all their logins, which makes the task of a hacker much easier.

  1. Don’t use vulnerable software programs and browsers

It is important to know that old versions of software and browsers can be vulnerable to security threats as many software programs and browsers automatically save your passwords. If somebody is able to hack into your browser or software, they may also get access to your passwords. So, use the latest versions of browsers and software programs.

  1. General precautions

General precautions include using your own devices and computers, installing reputed antivirus software, and not sharing your passwords even with your employees unless it is inevitable and warranted by the circumstances. Change your passwords as soon as the employee who had access to your passwords leaves your organization.

  1. Enable 2-step authentication for all your accounts

A two-step authentication involves the login confirmation through a One Time Password to be sent to your mobile device. Prominent email service providers such as Gmail and Yahoo and banks use two-step verification.

  1. Secure your connected devices on Wi-Fi

If your mobile phone or tablet is connected to your company network, use pin code protection. Don’t use free Wi-Fi available at public places. You can rather use your own virtual private network and your own Wi-Fi hotspot.

  1. Make cyber security a habit

There is no written code of conduct or set of rules related to cyber security. You should make it a habit to implement cyber security at every level. Do not click links you do not trust, especially those that are sent by unknown senders both on social media and email. Do not use an infected USB drive.

  1. Use multi layer security if you are using Cloud

Using Cloud is a convenient and easy option for data storage for many companies and that’s the reason they use it to dump all their data.

However, that’s not a good practice from security point of view. Data should be segregated according to sensitivity and criticality. Multi layer security and permissions should be implemented preventing unauthorized people to access your important data.

Final thoughts
In the end, security is not just about preventing someone from unauthorized access; it is also about convenience and confidence to do things that you need to do to keep you in business.

6 years ago